Help us meet a new era. Donate to support Brushwood’s future!

Tag: Nature

July 14 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Virtual

At Ease Book Club: Blast Radius, by Doug Self

As Veterans and military community members, we will explore Iraq War veteran Doug Self’s poetry and how his experience impacts the author, ourselves, and our community. 

Blast Radius explores the lasting impact of war, both on the battlefield and at home, through the eyes of combatants and their families.

This event is virtual; a Zoom link will be sent to those who register. If you have any technical needs, please email Jes Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Review of Blast Radius

“A poetry collection that is both visceral and vulnerable, Blast Radius tackles the complexity of serving in the military and questions whether anyone can return “… home / safe and sound.” Douglas E. Self employs psychological twists and raw physicality to shed light on the battleelds we carry within. A surprise at every turn, these musical lines will knock the wind out of you, in the way only a skilled poet can.” -Tina Parker, author of Lock Her Up

About the Author

Douglas Self is a father, poet, and a veteran of the USMC, U.S. Army Reserve, and the Iraq War who considers both Chicago, IL and Lexington, KY home. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and a trade school certificate in audio and video engineering from the Lexington School for the Recording Arts. Through his art, he hopes to show other military and combat veterans that healing is possible.

Questions? Please contact Veterans Program Specialist, Jessica Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Register here

Related Events

July 7 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Virtual

At Ease Book Club: Blast Radius, by Doug Self

As Veterans and military community members, we will explore Iraq War veteran Doug Self’s poetry and how his experience impacts the author, ourselves, and our community. 

Blast Radius explores the lasting impact of war, both on the battlefield and at home, through the eyes of combatants and their families.

This event is virtual; a Zoom link will be sent to those who register. If you have any technical needs, please email Jes Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Review of Blast Radius

“A poetry collection that is both visceral and vulnerable, Blast Radius tackles the complexity of serving in the military and questions whether anyone can return “… home / safe and sound.” Douglas E. Self employs psychological twists and raw physicality to shed light on the battleelds we carry within. A surprise at every turn, these musical lines will knock the wind out of you, in the way only a skilled poet can.” -Tina Parker, author of Lock Her Up

About the Author

Douglas Self is a father, poet, and a veteran of the USMC, U.S. Army Reserve, and the Iraq War who considers both Chicago, IL and Lexington, KY home. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and a trade school certificate in audio and video engineering from the Lexington School for the Recording Arts. Through his art, he hopes to show other military and combat veterans that healing is possible.

Questions? Please contact Veterans Program Specialist, Jessica Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Register here

Related Events

healing Together

The Artwork of TIERRA

By Jess Rodriguez

Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance (TIERRA) is the nature-based mental health intervention that was co-developed by Brushwood Center and DePaul University in collaboration with Highwood Library & Community Center, Roberti Community House, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, Family First Center, and The HAP Foundation. Community Health Workers and Clinicians from these organizations have facilitated TIERRA to over 85 participants in Lake County from 2024-2025 and while we have received much feedback about the program, the most common piece of feedback we’ve received is that the participants want more TIERRA. 

Healing Together, the Artwork of TIERRA Three hand-painted milagros hearts

During TIERRA, participants were able to dive into themselves and remember who it is they truly are. In talking to participants, I could see that – without having even known them before-  a shift was happening. The tides were changing. What once may have been muddy waters were now clear calm waves reflecting the infinite blue of the sky. The possibilities of their world have broadened.

What each individual could see of themselves and for themselves matched that of what they noticed in nature: abundance, love, gratitude, beauty, peace, transformation. The participants of TIERRA saw nature reflect themselves, in every form and facet. The participants of TIERRA have done something remarkable, they cleared the muddy waters. They walked through the labyrinth of life, they journeyed inward, expanded, and journeyed back outward, expanding. They have rediscovered who they are and without fail, they have rediscovered the iridescent web of interconnectedness.

Which is why they asked for more TIERRA, I knew they were not asking for a second intervention per say but rather they craved more opportunities to spin with the web. 

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA is an opportunity for the facilitators and participants of the program to move with that creative energy that they built up throughout the program and showcase their reflections through painting and other works of art. It has been an honor to collaborate with Nydia Gonzalez-Carson on these art workshops to offer facilitators and participants of TIERRA this moment, and hopefully create a ripple effect for more moments of grounding in the creative energy of nature for community healing.

RSVP to the Opening reception on April 12

May 31 @ 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Reciprocal Forest Bathing

View Organizer Website

Riverwoods, IL

Celestial Nature and Forest Therapy: May Blue Moon

Forest bathing is a guided experience that works to mend the relationships humans have with themselves, the concept of time, their communities, and their environment. It is a practice focused on remembering reciprocity by connecting to our senses through the natural world.

Join Jess Rodriguez, certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide, for a two-hour practice filled with a series of guided invitations that offer opportunities of presence, stress relief, and relaxation. 

During this time, participants can expect to walk slowly for less than a mile with plenty of opportunities to stop and simply notice the world around them. Forest bathing is an adaptable and flexible practice that welcomes people of all abilities. For more information visit reciprocalforestbathing.com

—

For the safety of our community, the exact location of the forest bathing experience will be disclosed upon registration and is subject to change in the case of a community safety concern. Registrants will receive a reminder email one week and 24 hours before the walk to be notified of any changes. 

REGISTER HERE

Related Events

A large gnarled oak tree
Image: 400-year-old Live Oak at the Whitney Plantation in New Orleans. Photo by Ashley Cullen-Williams

April 19 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Radical Hope in the Woods

Radical Hope in the Woods is a restorative, community-centered experience designed to reconnect the Black community to the land, to one another, and to the wisdom carried in our bodies and stories. Held on the sacred grounds of Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, this gathering invites participants to slow down, breathe deeply, and remember that healing is both personal and collective.

We will begin with a guided walk and talk through the forest—an intentional experience that blends reflection, folklore, storytelling, and connection. As we move along the trails, we’ll explore themes of radical hope, resilience, and belonging, grounding ourselves in nature while honoring the histories and experiences of our ancestors. This is not a hike for distance, but a journey inward and together.

Following our time in the woods, we will gather for a family-style Sunday dinner—a shared meal rooted in care, nourishment, and community.

Come as you are. Leave grounded, connected, full, and reminded that radical hope can be cultivated together with the outdoors. 

register

Radical Hope in the Woods is supported by Healing Illinois. Healing Illinois is a racial healing initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Field Foundation of Illinois.

Related Events

April 12 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Opening Reception: Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA features artwork created by facilitators of and participants in the TIERRA program—Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance—a research-informed, nature-based training program that supports Community Health Workers serving communities across Lake County, Illinois.

TIERRA equips Community Health Workers with tools to address the interconnected challenges of trauma, health disparities, and environmental injustice. Rooted in mindfulness, restorative practices, and the healing presence of nature, the program creates space for participants to explore their own experiences while strengthening their capacity to care for others.

Through visual art, reflection, and creative expression, participants in this program have translated their personal and professional journeys into powerful works that speak to resilience, healing, and connection to the land. The pieces on display offer insight into the inner landscapes of those working at the front lines of community health. These are individuals who navigate complex social and environmental challenges while supporting the wellbeing of others.

Created during guided sessions that integrated nature observation, contemplative practice, and artistic exploration, the artworks reflect themes of renewal, rootedness, and collective care. Plants, seasonal cycles, and the natural rhythms of the landscape serve as both inspiration and metaphor for growth and restoration.

By sharing these works with the public, the exhibition honors the vital role Community Health Workers play in building healthier, more equitable communities.

Schedule

1:00 pm – Exhibition Opens – Refreshments Available

1:30 pm – Artist Panel

3:00 pm – End of Reception

RSVP TO THE OPENING RECEPTION

Related Events

April 12 @ 1:00 pm – May 3 @ 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA features artwork created by facilitators of and participants in the TIERRA program—Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance—a research-informed, nature-based training program that supports Community Health Workers serving communities across Lake County, Illinois.

TIERRA equips Community Health Workers with tools to address the interconnected challenges of trauma, health disparities, and environmental injustice. Rooted in mindfulness, restorative practices, and the healing presence of nature, the program creates space for participants to explore their own experiences while strengthening their capacity to care for others.

Through visual art, reflection, and creative expression, participants in this program have translated their personal and professional journeys into powerful works that speak to resilience, healing, and connection to the land. The pieces on display offer insight into the inner landscapes of those working at the front lines of community health. These are individuals who navigate complex social and environmental challenges while supporting the wellbeing of others.

Created during guided sessions that integrated nature observation, contemplative practice, and artistic exploration, the artworks reflect themes of renewal, rootedness, and collective care. Plants, seasonal cycles, and the natural rhythms of the landscape serve as both inspiration and metaphor for growth and restoration.

By sharing these works with the public, the exhibition honors the vital role Community Health Workers play in building healthier, more equitable communities.

Learn more about the exhibition

Related Events

April 25 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Nature Book Club: April

The Brushwood Nature Book Club is a space to talk about and explore nature literature in a friendly environment. Each meeting includes discussion, creative writing, and/or art activities to engage with the themes of the chosen book, led by Brushwood’s Poet-in-Residence Kathryn Haydon, and writer-artist Megan Donahue.  

Our April book will be The Place of Tides, by James Rebanks. This is a magical work of nonfiction in which James Rebanks reflects on a life-changing summer spent on a remote island off the coast of Norway, where his only companion was an old woman who practiced the ancient tradition of collecting eiderdown from birds that nest on this remarkable landscape each year. 

It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for gathering, like feathered gold.

Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.

REGISTER

Related Events

Light shines through trees in a forest

March 31 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Initiatives

Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Virtual

The Woods as Freedom: Hidden Black Nature Stories

The Woods as Freedom: Hidden Black Nature Stories is an interactive virtual webinar that uncovers powerful, often untold stories of how the natural world shaped Black survival, resistance, and liberation. 

While the woods are often remembered as sites of danger during slavery, they were also places of strategy, nourishment, spiritual refuge, and coded communication. This session explores the layered meaning of the forest through history, folklore, and cultural memory. This webinar invites participants to reimagine nature as a living archive of resilience and resistance. It is both an educational and healing-centered experience that helps participants reconnect with land as a source of identity, strength, and freedom. 

Participants will explore: 

-The role of the woods in slave narratives and escape routes 

-Folklore traditions such as the Drinking Gourd and High John the Conqueror 

-Nature as source of survival knowledge, medicine, and direction 

-How ancestral relationships with land inform modern healing practices 

Register

Special thanks to support from Healing Illinois.

Healing Illinois is a racial healing initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in partnership with the Field Foundation of IL.

Related Events

Light shines through trees in a forest

March 16 @ 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Initiatives

Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Virtual

Remembering the Woods: Ancestral Memory Circle

Remembering the Woods: Ancestral Memory Circle is a guided virtual gathering that invites participants into a space of reflection, remembrance, and racial healing. Rooted in the project Radical Hope in the Woods, this circle honors the deep and complex relationship between Black Americans and the natural world. 

Through storytelling, mindfulness, and shared dialogue, participants will explore how the woods served as places of refuge, resistance, and spiritual connection for enslaved ancestors. Drawing from slave narratives, folklore, and oral histories, this experience reframes nature as sacred space of memory, wisdom, and liberation.

Participants will leave this virtual Lunch and Learn with a renewed sense of connection to the land, deeper awareness of ancestral resilience, and an invitation to continue reclaiming nature as a space for rest, belonging, and radical hope. 

Together, we will:

-Reflect on ancestral relationships with land and survival 

-Engage in grounding practices that reconnect us to nature 

-Explore folklore and stories that carried hope and freedom coded

-Begin a journey of collective healing rooted in remembrance

Register

Special thanks to support from Healing Illinois.

Healing Illinois is a racial healing initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in partnership with the Field Foundation of IL.

Related Events

Get the latest events, concerts, exhibits, and insights straight to your inbox.